Customer Reviews

The Outstretched Shadow (Obsidian)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've always enjoyed reading books by Mercedes Lackey, but I never classified her as one of my most favorite authors. She may be converting me though if this series stays as strong as the opening book.

The book begins typically enough with the protagonist, Kellan, dissatisfied with his life. He is the son of the Arch-mage who presides over the counsel of mages who control almost every aspect of life in the city. Kellan is gifted in magic although there is very little evidence of it at the beginning of the story. All of the mages in the city are only permitted to practice High Magic which Kellan finds very boring. The story really begins to pick up when Kellan finds three books about a different kind of magic called Wild Magic. Once he begins to dabble in this very different magic the story really gets going.

I loved the system of magic that the authors developed. There is a certain coherence and structure to it. Obviously, its magic so it is still unexplainable, but I've always felt that even when you're writing about magic there should be some system to how it functions.

I also thought that the various races that Kellan encounters throughout the story were very well done. The authors did a reasonably good job of giving them different characteristics and natures (i.e. elves are not simply very pretty people who love nature, but actually have characteristics that reflect their nature).

The last thing I liked about this book was that you get to see some of the development and training of Kellan. He has some gifts, but he has to work at learning to use them.

If you've never read Mercedes Lackey, I encourage you to give this new trilogy a try.

This novel is very long. It hasn't been well edited. These two comments seem to sum up the majority of other reviews of this work. I will concede that this book is long, but it was not poorly edited. Any time that you have two authors collaborating on a given work, that book will be longer than one written by either of them individually. Yes, there are aspects of the story that seem to plod along, but I feel that the overall story is well worth the slower sections. As far as the suggestion that this work was badly edited goes, let me say that I can close my eyes and recall the images that the authors created with their words, even though I read this book 8 months ago! That's not bad editing, people, it's called attention to detail!

I have been reading sci-fi and fantasy novels (and playing related role playing games) for almost 25 years, and the concept of "magic" as presented in this novel is the most original one that I have encountered in probably the last 20 years. The overall concept rivals the originality of the trilogy, "His Dark Materials," by Philip Pullman. Personally, I am more than willing to read a few (slightly) long-winded descriptions in return for that. I am anxiously awaiting the second book in this series....in fact, I think it's about time for me to re-read this book, just to make sure I'm ready.

I really liked this booked. However I feel a need to warn everyone that it is slow at first. I like getting alot of background on a new world and the main characters, But I usually prefer that you grab my attention first. The book spends a great deal of time at the begining going over history from one view point, and giving us a great deal of information on the homeland of the main character. But it is not until much later in the book that anything actual begins to happen.
I would have prefered the book to start out with some action or decision then started giving us the background information which I think could have been done easily.
All of that aside The Story is great and I can't wait for the second book.

While I thought that this book had an interesting story, and agree in part with many of the other reviews, there is one overall reason that I gave such a low rating. Kellen, one of the main characters of this book is an endearing young man, with many questions and outlooks upon his life in general. Throughout the novel, Kellen comes upon his realizations and revelations on the blink of an eye, going back and forth from one view to another, doubting just about everything there is to doubt. This is a book of adventure and far off lands, but this feeling of excitement at untold journeys is somewhat put off by the fact that you know the main character will always find the answer when he needs it, at the snao of your fingers. If it wasn't for this, the book would have been, in my opinion, far more enjoyable.

I am very familiar with Lackey's books, but not Mallory's. This was so well written and thought out, that I will have to search for his books. I imagine that it is quite difficult to collaborate with another author on a book, and come up with a cohesive story. The characters are so well described that you absolutely hate the bad guys, and cheer for the good guys. The REALLY bad guys are very very creepy. I could've done without some of the graphic descriptions (you'll know what they are when you read the book), but it doesn't stop me from wanting the 2nd book NOW!

Interesting setting, interesting characters, but far, far too long. Needs to be cut by about 100 pages. The pace is glacial, the same ground gets covered again and again. This isn't being paid by the word, it's being paid by the pound.
It could have been such a good book-the elements are there.

It's hard to explain what, exactly, is so captivating about this book. There is a certain fascination in the language that seems to grab hold of the reader and refuse to turn him/her loose until the very end. All of the books in this trilogy (The Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, When Darkness Falls) are absolutely riveting.

It's a fairly classic tale of good verses evil, but with shades of gray as well. There are the usual suspects of Elves, Centaurs, Demons, Witches, Wizards, and Humans. There are knights in armor, fire-breathing dragons, dangerous battles, ardorous treks, and all the other trappings of your typical fantasy tale. However, don't let the 'typical' turn you away, because this book, and its sequels, are far from typical. The characters come alive. You'll grow with them, laugh with them, cry with them, and in the end, be surpised and saddened that the end has arrived so suddenly.

I have read hundreds of Fantasy novels and I can say that this is a really solid one. There are familiar elements in this book that appear all over the fantasy genre: sylphs, gnomes, brownies, centaurs... on and on. Magic in this book is portrayed in a very interesting fashion... there are two types wild magic and high magic... I will not go into the differences as I would rather not spoil it for you.

This book does a couple things quite well:
1) Use elements in the past that are referred to only briefly. An example of this would be the antagonist looking at something in an early chapter and then the antagonist looking at the same thing later. This may not seem all that great but it is a subtle element that helps both bring the world to life and re-enforce those things that have happened in the beginning of the book.

2) This book weaves doubt quite well. There are may times when things will happen and you will not know if the event is for good or for evil. There is truly a sense of development on the part of the main character Kellen. Sometimes you are thrust into a world and everyone already knows whats going on... well here the main character really has to figure things out for himself, dealing with all sorts of doubt and inner turmoil. All the makings of good character development in my opinion.

Overall, I would say that if you are a fan of the genre, I think this is a good choice for a solid read with a good story and interesting characters. If you do find it hard to get into during the first few chapters... dont worry the book gets much better the more you read. Keep going and you won't regret it. ENJOY!

I should warn you first that I am a fan of Mercedes Lackey's work, since her filk days. I have not seen any of James Mallory's work. I found this book to be very much like most of Lackey's work; I didn't sense much of Mallory's presence except perhaps in the good characterization of the main character as a teenage boy.

I found this to be a good, fun read. It was engaging and interesting, and it made me want to know what happens next at most points. It's more of a good-vs-evil story than Lackey is prone to; the Endarkened appear to be pure, unredeemable evil and we get plenty of proof of it.

In addition, there's some indication that this world is another one with active, benevolent "gods", which is something that usually drives me right up a wall. However, Lackey handled that well in her Valdemar/Oathbreaker series, so I'll go along with it for now. I won't give anything away here, other than to say that like in her other series, it's a "god" system where you can clearly answer for yourself the big question: "If (the) God(s) love us and want to do good by us, why does evil and want and pain exist?" And okay, I admit that I'm also a sucker for world systems where good people with generous hearts can do great good and not get ripped off.

If you're someone who hates to read an unfinished story, you should hold off on this book until the sequels come out. Even though this is a thick long book, it feels more like it ended when it ran out of paper than at a natural endpoint of the story. I think I agree with another reviewer in that it needed to be edited. Unless there's something further on to give a payoff to it, we spend entirely too much time getting our heroes to the point where they even KNOW about the major foes, much less start to do something about it. It's something I've noticed in many of Lackey's books from the last 5 years or so; perhaps she has become resistant to editing and her work is suffering for it. While I appreciate learning about our characters and their world... it means that the "main" plot doesn't start until around page 400 of 600!

Overall, I like this book even though it spends way too much time setting things up. I like watching the characters develop, and there are interesting things to see along the way. This book is also suitable for children from about age 10 and up. The sexual situations are not at all disturbing, and violence is handled as something to be avoided. And most of all, our main character's thoughts about both can lead to healthy decision-making. However the actions of the Endarkened might be too much for children younger than 10 to handle.

I'm a fairly new addition to the ranks of fantasy fans as most of the books I tend to gravitate towards are more of the Stephen King/Dean Koontz persuasion. I picked up this one in an effort to find a new author in a new genre that had been highly reviewed by my peers. I was not dissappointed. As the reviewers mentioned, the book gets a slow start, not really grabbing you until about 100 pages in or so. If you're patient enough to get past that point the action rolls pretty well from then on and makes for a very entertaining story. Indeed, it could have used a good bit of editing as there are several sections where successsive paragraphs seem to repeat themselves almost word for word, but the forgiving reader who seeks to have their imagination excited can overlook these things, as they are not so ever-present as to sully the story itself. I enjoyed it and I intend to read the second and third parts of the trilogy. If you are more interested in story than structure and syntax, you will enjoy it too.